“See. You sighed. I knew something was wrong. I could feel it. You had that early Halloween party, then you didn’t answer after canceling plans with me and...” Her silence spoke volumes. Over the years, her trust in me had been broken. I wouldn’t get it back quickly.
Or maybe ever. I wondered if, to them, I was the addict in the family they’d always have to worry about. Maybe I’d need to reassure my sister I wasn’t going to be spiraling for the rest of my life.
But wasn’t that what I should be thankful for? I was lucky to have someone who would actually care about me like that forever, yet sometimes, I was tired of confirming my health—especially after nine years of sobriety.
“I’m fine, Lilah.”
“I know you’re fine that way,” she scoffed, but I heard the relief in her voice. “Something else is wrong, though. How was the Halloween party?”
“It was good.”I just hooked up with my boss and broke up with my boyfriend on the same night. Quite possibly ruined his car—might need a lawyer for that—and potentially could lose my job if my boss decides I’m too much of a headache.“Everything’s fine. But I have to get to work.”
“You’ve got five minutes. And if you don’t give me something, I’ll just sic Mom on you.”
“Okay. That’s below the belt.” I straightened in my seat.
“It’s not. I’m staying in her good graces, though, because I gave her a grandkid, so you’d better start talking.”
“I should have ruined your relationship with Dante when I had the chance,” I grumbled.
That got her laughing at least. “And to think I felt bad for you when he picked me over you.”
We laughed and some of her anger dissipated.
“So, you want me to call Mom, then? Have her come to your place and pry into your life?”
I stopped laughing. “You wouldn’t. You’d better not. Don’t be a bitch.”
“I’m a loving bitch, though.”
I weighed my options, and as my work building neared, I figured she was going to find out anyway. Cade probably shared things with his family and that included Dante. I really hated that they were cousins now. It’s how I’d met him. He’d shown up on my first day on the job with Dante and was introduced as Dante’s cousin and the head of cybersecurity.
So, I bit the bullet. “I have a lot going on with Gerald. We broke up, but he keeps texting... and then I might have hooked up with Cade.” I mumbled it quietly, hoping she would just leave it, but when I heard her gasp, I quickly continued. “But it was like a hate hookup, you know? Like, it won’t happen again, and now I have to face him at work, but he’s never there usually, so maybe I won’t see him. And I just hope to God I don’t lose my job.”
The line stayed silent. So long that I figured Delilah had hung up.
“You there?”
“What?” she screeched.
“I have to go to work.”
“Oh my God. I knew Cade had it bad for you,” she squealed. “Remember when you made the joke about kissing Dante at the fire and Cade looked like he was about to blow?”
“He didn’t—”
“He did,” she said with such conviction, I wasn’t going to argue. “And now it all makes sense. You were supposed to kiss an Armanelli man, you just got the wrong one the first time.”
I hated that she took what I’d done to her so lightly. “I never should have kissed Dante, Lilah—”
“If you apologize for that one more time, I’m driving over to smack you. It was the push I needed to realize I loved him and you found out he was just your friend anyway. Now, Cade, I bet, is not just a friend.”
I heard Dante’s voice snap out a “What?”
I was going to kill her. “Do not tell Dante. Or tell him not to say anything to Cade. I don’t want to make this a big deal at all.”
“Of course it’s a big deal.”
“You did hear me when I said that I broke up with Gerald, right?” I heaved a sigh and combed my fingers through my hair while sipping on the coffee I’d put in a thermos before running out of the house.